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Ambrogio Lorenzetti (1285 - 1348)
Ambrogio Lorenzetti
(1285 - 1348) |
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Painter of religious works of the Sienese school; naturalistic approach; depictions of three dimensional space; smooth flowing lines; expressive figures Art Work
| Name: |
Ambrogio Lorenzetti |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Place of Birth: |
Sienna, Italy |
| Nationality: |
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| Birth: |
1285 |
| Death: |
1348 |
| Website: |
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| Past Auctions: |
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Quick Facts
| Known For: |
Painter of religious works of the Sienese school; naturalistic approach; depictions of three dimensional space; smooth flowing lines; expressive figures |
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| Fine Art Profession(s): |
Painting
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Biography
| Siena was a jewel of a city in the early fourteenth century–its wealth built on wool and money lending. Its artistic achievements reached a pinnacle with the work of Duccio di Buoninsegna, who introduced a new way of painting and founded the influential Sienese school. Ambrogio Lorenzetti was born into this rich cultural milieu, and his older brother Pietro was also a painter. In 1327 Ambrogio went to Florence to study art at the Arte dei Medici e Speziali, where he soon absorbed the ideas of Giotto. In 1336 he established a workshop back in Siena. One of his favorite subjects was the Madonna, possibly because the city was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Charming depictions, such as Madonna del Latte (c.1330), are expressive and full of emotion. Ambrogio was surely painting from personal experience, although little is known about his life. He is known best for his fresco cycle The Effects of Good Government in the City and the Country (c.1338-1340). It is the work of a mature artist giving full rein to his imagination to represent virtue and vice in the political and social spheres. It was very unusual at the time to discuss philosophical ideas without reference to religion. Ambrogio's capacity for naturalistic expression, his ability to depict three-dimensional space, and his powers of narrative exposition are clear in Scenes from the Life of St. Nicholas of Bari (1332) and even better realized some ten years later in The Presentation in the Temple (1342). He was the first artist in Europe to use single-point perspective, giving his work unique spatial complexity. Ambrogio died from the Black Death in 1348, along with half the population of Siena. This tragedy ended Siena's cultural flowering, and the city never recovered its former glory. MC |
Samples of Work
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